Supernova man

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It took months to line up an interview with Dean Buchanan. The
head of programming at the DMG radio network is so busy charging
about the country - overseeing the company's fledgling national
network of Nova stations and the start-up of two FM stations in
Melbourne and Sydney - it is a challenge to find a space in his
diary for a meeting.

When we finally catch up at Nova's Richmond studios, he has
trouble sitting still. The man those inside the company have dubbed
the surfboard for his slender frame has a restless energy. But once
gained, his attention is fierce. Dressed in a crisp navy suit,
Buchanan, 38, looks more formal than he sounds on the telephone.
Perhaps this is because our meeting is squeezed between others at
which he is attempting to lure well-known Melburnians to work for
the company's as yet unnamed new station intended to appeal to
those aged 40 to 60.

He is keeping the names of possible announcers close to his
chest but promises he is specifically fly-fishing rather than
casting the net wide.

Acknowledging that the challenges for this new station will be
huge and that many over-40s are dedicated listeners of AW and 774,
Buchanan still sees plenty of opportunities. Research has thrown up
plenty of information about what the target audience would like
from a new station, as well as indicating that getting people to
change from the AM to the FM band will not be the problem some have
predicted.

"3AW with ratings of 15 per cent (of audience share) is good
enough to be the No. 1 station in the Melbourne market, which means
85 per cent don't care," Buchanan says. "So I wouldn't read too
much into what the existing ratings say at all, we'll continue to
ask listeners what they reckon and I don't think it will be a
narrow opportunity for us."

He rules out bidding on the AFL rights, rules in an interest in
news and current affairs and describes the music format as "secret
squirrels".

Rather than focusing on the audiences of particular stations,
Buchanan talks about those listeners who tune to the "least-worst"
station. "There's a big bunch of listeners who don't particularly
love any singular station but they'll use a number to make up their
ideal radio station and we will target some of those people," he
says.

"What we set out to do with Nova was identify an audience that
we felt was under-served and build a station just for them and it's
exactly the same with this new brand. It's not designed or targeted
at any other stations . . . although for this station to be
successful it's true to say that it needs to be attractive to
people who listen to the ABC, 3AW and Mix and Triple M and Gold,
and possibly even a little bit of Fox. But that's not the
objective, the objective is to build a new brand and a home for 40-
to 60-year-olds."